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KDE and the Expansion of the Desktop

"Last week, when I wrote "7 Things You Can Do in KDE,
But Not in Windows," I assumed that anyone who was interested in
the KDE 4 series had already explored it.

"However, the email I received and a few web searches soon
convinced me that I was wrong. Apparently, many people do not use
the innovations added to KDE over the last two and a half years,
and do not see the point of them. Nor is the situation improved by
tutorials that stick to basic directions without explaining the
relevance of the features they describe.

"That means that at least some of the KDE 4 series' detractors
are probably judging it by what they expect to find, rather than by
what it is intended to do. It also means that a basic primer is
needed on such features as Folder Views, Workspaces, Activities,
including an explanation of why anyone should care about them. Such
issues are not only relevant in themselves, but highlight some of
the current limitations on desktops as interfaces. The Problems in
Need of a Solution

"So far as I can see, the new features in the KDE 4 series are
intended as answers -- or, at least, as palliatives -- to two basic
problems with the modern computer desktop: How to make icons on the
desktop more efficient, and how to reduce the clutter on the
desktop when multiple windows are open."